PICTURE BOOKS
Cline-Ransome, Lesa

Light in the Darkness: A Story About How Slaves Learned in Secret

(3) K-3 Illustrated by James E. Ransome. Risking a whipping if caught, young Rosa and her mama make the dangerous trek to a "pit school," where slaves gather in the middle of the night to learn to read with sticks and letters drawn in dirt. Cline-Ransome's respectful text is illustrated with Ransome's powerful paintings, which capture the slaves' fear, the resignation of some, and the perseverance of others. Reading list.

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